Legal History Commons^™

A finely-tuned balancing of the free functioning of private and commercial enterprise against a family's interests in shelter and a home is at the heart of homestead exemption laws. In South Dakota's history, this balancing act has been displayed over a 145-year history in the form of legislative enactments, judicial decisions, and referendums. This history illuminates the expression of values against the dynamics of rule-making. A previously published article in this review, Prequel to Homestead, outlined South Dakota's homestead laws under the contemporary statutory framework and also considered the constitutional history of homestead laws leading up to South Dakota's …